Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts
Man incurring the Divine displeasure
This attitude of God towards man--
I.
Implies wrong-doing on man’s part. God is not thus adverse to man for naught. “His delights are with the sons of men” (Pro_8:31). Sin alienates man from God, and causes God to be righteously displeased with man.
II. Involves man in present distress. Man cannot be at ease whilst under the ban of Jehovah. “In His favour is life” (Psa_30:5). Separation from Him through sin means disquietude and unrest. “The worst troubler in the world is a wilful heart.” “Conscience makes cowards of us all! The heart melteth, the knees smite together” (ver. 10).
III. Resulting in ultimate ruin to such as wilfully persist in sin. God is “the Lord of hosts.” All power is His. “Who shall stand when He is angry?” (Psa_76:7). All have sinned, and hence have incurred the displeasure of Him who “is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity,” but in Christ, whose day the seers saw afar off, God is reconciled to man; so that the distress and ruin indicated can alone result from man refusing to be reconciled unto God. (De Wette’s Introduction.)
And the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard (with chap. 1:15).
The messengers of Nineveh and the messengers of Zion a comparison
“Andthe voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard” (ver. 13); “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!” (chap 1:15) The messengers of Nineveh and the messengers of Zion are alluded to in these passages. A comparison of these respective messengers may prove suggestive and useful in its application to certain developments in these modern times. From the Second Book of Kings and the Sccond Book of Chronicles we learn that the heralds or messengers of Nineveh cherished the spirit of blasphemy with reference to the God of heaven. The faith of the pious Hebrews consisted in the recognition of the one living and true God, and of His providential care over all His creatures; and it was against this bulwark that the emissaries of Assyria constantly directed their assaults in words foul and filthy (see Rabshakeh’s appeal to the Jews, 2Ki_18:33-35; and his letter, 2Ch_32:17). The great and dis tinguishing characteristic of the messengers of Zion was loyalty to the God of heaven. Their feet stood upon the mountains, and their voice proclaimed to the people, “Behold your God!” (Isa_40:9); “Thy God reigneth!” (Isa_52:7). In the present age there are messengers who boldly declare their none acceptance of the teaching that recognises the Divine Being and His working, and who seek to disseminate their views, and in doing so are not particular if they blaspheme the God of heaven. And whilst there are such messengers in the world doing their injurious work, there are also those who are thoroughly loyal to the King of kings, who delight to show forth His praise, to tell the story of His love in the gift and work of Christ, and to seek to draw men in loving obedience to His authority and will. Note certain contrasts, then, suggested; thus--
I. Captivity in contrast with freedom. The messengers of Nineveh approached Jerusalem, to which Sennacherib was laying siege, but they bore no tidings of liberty. They claimed full submission, and declared that even this must be followed by captivity in a strange land (2Ki_18:31-32). The assurance of ultimate deliverance came from the messengers of the Lord (chap. 1:12, 13). Sin is bondage. Transgressors are slaves. And scepticism has nothing to offer such by way of helping them to escape. Lo! the messengers of Zion come. They tell him of the great Father’s unwearying love, the Saviour’s obedience unto the death of the Cross, the energising and sanctifying Spirit ready to gird him with all-sufficient strength.
II. Strife in contrast to peace. The messengers of Nineveh to Judah had nothing conciliatory to convey; they told only of contention and strife. The assurance that peace should ultimately be enjoyed came to the anxious King of Judah from God’s messengers, who published peace. The messengers of scepticism have no proclamation of peace to make. It is the privilege, however, of the messengers of Zion to proclaim those spiritual and eternal verities in which the heart may securely and tranquilly repose, and to point to him who can quell every storm and give rest unto the soul
III. Gloom in contrast to gladness. Hezekiah and his people were in extremity; it was to them a time of “trouble”; but not a ray of hope came to themthrough the messengers of Nineveh. Their worst fears were confirmed; the foe was unrelenting. Their hope was in God, and in the words spoken by His holy prophets. So in the extremities of life--in sickness and sorrow, and especially at life’s close, hope springs not from unbelief, but from the words God has addressed to us through His servants. The Gospel has no rival in such seasons. Scepticism has no voice then, or, if it speaks, it but deepens the prevailing gloom; but the good tidings God has revealed dispels our sadness and fills the soul with immortal hopes. Happy messengers who are thus enabled to “comfort all that mourn,” etc. (Isa_61:2).
IV. Shame in contrast to honour. The voice of all messengers who blaspheme the holy name of God “shall be no more heard,” for God will put them to silence; but voices publishing His love and grace shall go sounding on through the ages,--the bright succession of proclaimers shall not cease. Growing numbers shall be raised up who shall find their way to all nations and kindreds and tribes, until the glad tidings shall reach every shore, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill theearth (Isa_11:9). (De Wette’s Introduction.)
